I've had 12 hens in a 10x6 coop for two years and thought it was fine. He came over, looked inside, and said, 'You're asking for trouble with that many birds in this space, they need room to be chickens.' It hit different because he pointed out the dust and how they were all bunched up. Now I'm thinking maybe I should build an extension or rehome a few. What's the real minimum space you all give your flock?
I had 15 hens in a coop I built for 10, thinking they'd be fine since they free ranged all day. She pointed out they were pecking each other's feathers from stress, not boredom. I moved 5 birds to a second pen I made from an old shed, and the feather picking stopped in about a week. Anyone else have a 'lightbulb' moment about space that fixed a problem?
My next door neighbor, Bob, saw me spreading fresh pine shavings in the run last Tuesday. He leaned over the fence and said, 'You know, you should use sand. It's cleaner.' I've had my flock for three years and the deep litter method works great for my wet Seattle winters. He doesn't even own birds, he just read it online once. What's the weirdest 'expert' tip you've gotten from a non-keeper?
I was sure it was a gimmick, but after a week of watching them take turns on the $25 swing from Tractor Supply, the feather pulling in my flock of 8 completely stopped, so has anyone else seen a change in behavior with simple coop additions?
Last fall, I had a new hen getting bullied badly in my run in Portland. My neighbor, who has kept birds for years, saw it and said, 'Stop babying them, they need to work it out themselves.' I listened and left them alone for two days. By the end, the new girl was missing feathers and hiding in a corner, terrified. I had to completely separate her for a week to let her heal. Has anyone else had a situation where the 'let them be' advice totally backfired?
I bought this automatic door from a company called CoopGuard, thinking it would keep my girls safe overnight. A raccoon figured out how to pry the plastic latch open and got one of my Buff Orpingtons. I'm out the money and a chicken. What automatic doors have actually held up for you guys against determined raccoons?
For months, my Rhode Island Reds kept making holes under the run fence, no matter how many rocks I piled up. Last Tuesday, I bent the bottom foot of the wire fencing outward flat against the ground and staked it down with landscape staples. It only took about an hour and cost maybe $15 for the staples. They haven't made a single new hole since I did it. Has anyone else tried this method with a really determined flock?
I was in the yard in Portland yesterday when I saw Bertha was gone, and the coop door was wide open. I found her two houses down, calmly pecking at my neighbor's petunias. I just walked over slowly, picked her up, and carried her back. Has anyone else had a chicken with a real taste for landscaping?
I came home to find all six hens roaming the front yard because the latch on the coop door finally gave out after two years. Anyone have a good brand for a heavy-duty slide bolt that won't rust?
My vet in Springfield said to keep her inside for a week, and a friend lent me one of those cloth contraptions. It kept my living room clean and let her rest comfortably, which I never expected. Has anyone else had a chicken need indoor recovery time and found a good solution?
I read online that it could help with bugs and smell, so I spread about two cups of used grounds from my morning pot around the run. Within a day, my four hens stopped scratching and dust bathing in that whole area, and they seemed kind of off. I mean, idk if it was the smell or what, but they avoided it like it was poison. I cleaned it all out after three days and they went right back to normal. Has anyone else had a weird reaction to something simple like that? I'm sticking to plain dirt from now on.
I mounted a cute little weathervane rooster on top of the coop in Springfield, and now my 12 pound Brahma, Bertha, insists on roosting on it every single night. The whole thing lists to one side now, and I'm worried the screws will pull out. Has anyone else had a chicken claim a decoration as their personal throne?
It was Tuesday morning around 10 AM when I heard the squawking. I ran outside and saw a big red tail hawk on top of the run, trying to get at my barred rock, Bertha. I had to bang on the fence and yell to scare it off, and Bertha was hiding under the coop for hours. I never thought I'd need hawk netting in my suburban yard, but now I'm looking at it. Has anyone else had a close call like that and what did you do to make your run safer?
My three Buff Orpingtons, all about two years old, laid a dozen eggs total last Tuesday. That's four each, which I didn't think was possible. It happened after a week of really warm weather here in Charlotte. Has anyone else seen a short burst like this from a small flock?
I always thought the flat side gave them more room to perch. A video from a poultry science group showed their feet need to wrap around a narrower, rounded surface to grip properly and stay warm. Anyone else make this simple design mistake that took forever to notice?
My friend Mark came over last week and said my coop looked stuffy. He told me, 'You need a vent up high, not just the door open.' I added a 12-inch square vent near the roof the next day. Now the girls seem way more chill on hot afternoons. Anyone else find a simple change made a big difference?
I was reading an old post from 2018 where someone was really proud of their single roost bar and one nesting box for 5 hens. It made me think about my first coop, which was basically the same. Now I've got 3 different roost heights, two boxes per 4 hens, and a whole dust bath area I built last spring. The biggest shift was learning they need more space and things to do, not just a roof. What's one thing you added to your coop that you'd never go back to not having?
I found it yesterday in the old wheelbarrow under a tarp, with 27 eggs! Anyone else have a master hider in their flock?
I just tallied up my egg log from my six hens in my Raleigh backyard, and the number hit me. I always figured we got a lot, but seeing that four-digit total (it was 1,023, actually) made me realize how much food they provide beyond just being pets. It's changed how I see our grocery budget, for sure. Has anyone else been surprised by a big number from their coop?
I mean, the yolks were super orange and they seemed happy, but I had to crack eggs with a knife. Anyone else get weird results from changing feed?
It was a cheap model I got online for about $50. Worked fine for a year. Then we had that freeze in early February, temps dropped to 15 degrees overnight. Woke up and the door was just stuck open. Motor was humming but the gear had stripped. Had to run out there in my boots and a coat to manually close it before the raccoons got any ideas. Took the whole thing apart. Plastic gears inside were totally chewed up. My fault for going cheap, I guess. Had to order a whole new unit with metal gears, cost me over a hundred. Anyone have a brand of auto door that actually holds up in real winter?
I got tired of rushing home at sunset to close the coop, especially during our short winter days. The door opens at dawn and closes at dusk based on light, so my girls are always safe from raccoons. It paid for itself when I had to work late last week and didn't worry once. What's the best money you've spent on your setup?
She was telling a client that if you feed a lot of greens or scratch, you need more grit than the little bit in the feed bag. She said for her own flock of 12, she goes through a 50 pound bag of granite grit every six months. I checked my own grit tub and it was almost empty, so I guess my girls have been running on fumes. How often do you all actually top up the grit station?
She said 'three hens is just a hobby, not real keeping' while I was collecting eggs yesterday. It made me realize how much gatekeeping there can be even in something as simple as backyard chickens. Has anyone else had someone dismiss their setup for not being big enough?
I mean, I've had my little flock for about two years now, but this past March they just went nuts. My spreadsheet says we collected 512 eggs. I always thought the 'one egg per hen per day' thing was kind of a best-case myth, you know? Part of me thinks it's just a crazy fluke and maybe the weather was perfect. But the other part wonders if switching their feed to that local mill's mix six months ago actually made this big a difference. Has anyone else seen a sudden jump like that, or did I just get really lucky?